Fran seemed startled. She rubbed Pirate’s ears before answering.

“Because your mother won the music scholarship,” she answered at last. “It was the hardest decision of her life. To leave and follow her music, or to stay here. In the end, the music won.”

“But what if she had stayed?” Rio asked in small voice. “What if she’d stayed in her happy place?”

Fran took a sharp intake of breath. “Would things have been different, you mean?”

Rio looked down at the table a long time before nodding. He listened to Fran stroking Pirate’s head in steady, rhythmical movements until he dared to look up.

The expression on his grandmother’s face was one he hadn’t seen before. But, nevertheless, it was a look he recognized all too well. Because it was a look he had seen every day in the mirror for the past few months. Something raw and naked and fearful.

She had taken off her glasses and was rubbing her eyes wearily.

“To be honest, Rio, no one can know what might have happened if she’d stayed,” Fran said quietly. “But one thing is for sure, fighting with her because she chose not to come back, well, that was the biggest mistake of all.”

26

Bad News

On Sunday night, waiting for the phone to ring, Rio’s stomach was aflutter with all kinds of nerves. His mom still hadn’t replied to his emails, but that didn’t matter. He would talk to her about the whales. He would speak slowly and clearly and tell her every single thing that had happened in the past few weeks—starting with his ability to hear them and his invitation to join the Spyhopper crew.

For the first time since arriving in Ocean Bay, he didn’t feel quite so far away from her. He even hummed a little tune to himself under his breath.

The phone burst into life, and his heart leaped. He heard Fran answer it.

And then . . . and then . . .

What was taking so long?

Instead of passing the phone over, Fran was huddled in the far corner of the kitchen and was gripping it tight to her ear.

“What? Oh, I see. Well . . .” She lowered her voice. “How long?”

This was a voice he had not heard his grandmother use before. It was the voice a person might use when expecting bad news. It made Rio’s tummy flutter and his throat tighten.

“Right.” She glanced fleetingly at Rio before stepping out into the hallway and gently shutting the kitchen door. Through the glass, he could see her outline—so different to his mother’s petite frame—but one nevertheless he had gotten used to. He moved closer to the door, but no matter how hard he listened, he couldn’t make anything out apart from the low rumble of her voice.

Eventually, Fran came back in and sat down at the table. She twisted her wedding ring around and around her finger before finally looking up. “That was the doctor . . .” She stopped, as if trying to choose the right words. “Unfortunately, your mother won’t be calling you today.”